


Bridge to Here

by ketchupblood



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-15
Updated: 2010-12-15
Packaged: 2017-10-17 17:48:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/179559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ketchupblood/pseuds/ketchupblood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were best friends; they are acquaintances; they become more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bridge to Here

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://happiestwhen.livejournal.com/profile)[**happiestwhen**](http://happiestwhen.livejournal.com/) for top_cagnotte.

  
Saeki met Fuji on his third birthday, when Auntie Yoshiko, who had just moved back to Tokyo with her husband, came with a large red truck for him.

Bits and pieces of that day were the earliest memories that he had: the weird kid who came over and wouldn't play without dragging his crybaby brother around with them, the cake that the three of them demolished, getting sick later from eating too much, even the game of tag that they'd played, when Fuji always let Yuuta tag him when Yuuta was it.

He would never admit it to Fuji, but whenever he thought of that day, what he remembered wasn't that it was the first time they met. He remembered meeting them, of course, but that wasn't the important part of that day. Instead, he remembered thinking that the truck was _the most awesome thing **ever**_. If he weren't such a klutz and hadn't broken it when he turned nine, he was sure that that truck would still be enshrined in his room or something. It was a really fucking cool truck.

But Fuji was Fuji and experienced nostalgia a million times stronger than any normal person, so Saeki just went along with it when he waxed poetic about their first meeting. Saeki was kind of proud that he resisted rolling his eyes like Yuuta did, not that Fuji ever noticed. Fuji was amazingly good at only seeing what he wanted to see, but then again, it worked for him so who was Saeki to change his mind? Thankfully, Fuji spent more time reminiscing his childhood with Yuuta than playing pirates with Saeki.

Still, when he did, Saeki would never let him know that that day, when they fought over who could play with his new red truck first, was probably one of the most important days of his life—and not because of some toy truck that he finally threw away before entering middle school.

*

Auntie Yoshiko used to come visit with Fuji and Yuuta in tow every month or so. Saeki never remembered his mom taking them to visit Fuji but, then again, his mom always hated taking him on the train. Saeki would wait outside for hours for them to arrive, sitting outside on the front stoop. It always felt like he would sit out there forever, even though he knew that Auntie Yoshiko always came over by twelve and he was almost never up before ten. When they finally arrived, he would jump up and run to greet them, Fuji and Yuuta would rush out of the car, and the three of them would be off. Auntie Yoshiko would laugh and his mom would freak out about where they were running to, though they never left the block. Eventually, they would be herded into the house where they would play while their mothers socialized and talked about mom things.

They still came over sometimes, but rarely. Mostly, Auntie Yoshiko left the Fuji at home and Yuuta at school and came to visit by herself now. Saeki's mom went to visit Auntie Yoshiko now, too, but he never really asked about that. Saeki didn't think that Fuji'd come over to his house since they entered junior high, and he couldn't even think of the last time that he'd visited Fuji.

In fact, he wasn't sure that he ever had. Once he was old enough that his mom didn't freak out when she took him on the train, he was also old enough, in her estimation, to be left home alone. The novelty of being allowed to stay home alone won over any desire he had to go see Fuji until he was too busy to visit anyway.

That actually did bother him. Fuji was no longer the closest friend that he had, but he used to look forward to Auntie Yoshiko's visits for _weeks_. That he didn't know what Fuji's house even looked like seemed wrong.

That, and the fact that his mom happened to be leaving just as he got home later that week, made him ask if she was going to visit Auntie Yoshiko and if he could go with her. She seemed surprised but in a good way. As they waited for the train to depart, she turned to him and said that she was glad that he and Fuji were still friends.

He'd shrugged. Of course they were still friends. They saw each other at nearly every tournament and their teams almost always managed to have at least one joint training event every month during tennis season.

After a minute or so of silence, his mom continued, "I wish you would tell me these things. You could always come with me when I visit, you know, or Fuji could come with Auntie Yoshiko."

Saeki shrugged again and rolled his eyes. "I'm coming with you now, aren't I?"

She sighed. "I'm glad you're coming."

"Yeah, sure."

The rest of the train ride was spent in silence. Saeki started zoning out, thinking about what the line-up would have to be next year, unless another super freshman joined, and he almost didn't notice his mom getting up and leaving. He ran to catch up with her and, when they got to the street, he instinctively turned left while she turned right. She scolded him gently for not paying attention better, as if he didn't _know_ that. He rolled his eyes again when she turned her back.

Fuji's house was a little bit closer from the station than his was—it was maybe a ten minute's walk. Once they got close, though, he could tell which one it was. The cacti were kind of a giveaway, though it was a lot bigger than he'd expected. He felt a little bit out of place when his mom rang the doorbell and Auntie Yoshiko answered.

"Ayame!" She stopped short. "And Saeki! What a nice surprise!"

"Hi," he muttered.

"Come in, come in!" She ushered them in and closed the door. "Syuusuke's in his room. Why don't you go right up?"

He'd nodded and hurried away from her and his mom. Neither of them seemed to realize that he had no idea where Fuji's room was, but he figured it would be up the stairs and he'd rather not spend any more time with them.

The second floor seemed pretty typical, except the rooms were a lot bigger than his. The first room was Yumiko's; there were dresses flung everywhere and her entire desk was covered in cards. The second was probably Yuuta's—there was a single tennis poster up, but it was too clean to be lived in. Then there was the bathroom, which was pretty nice, and then Fuji's room, which was the easiest to identify because Fuji was sitting on his bed. He was focused on a book that he had in front of him so Saeki knocked on the door gently.

"Um, hey."

Fuji's head looked up and somehow didn't look surprised. It took him a moment to respond, though. "Hi."

Saeki did not blush, but he did realize how freakishly weird this whole thing was. "Sorry," he said just as Fuji started to say, "I didn't realize that—"

They both stopped. Fuji managed to start again first, "I didn't realize that you were coming today."

"Yeah. I just realized that I'd never been to your house before, so my mom was coming and I figured, why not?"

"Oh." Fuji nodded and pulled a bookmark from somewhere else in the book before shutting it. Saeki felt a little bit guilty for not warning Fuji that he'd be coming. "What do you think, then?"

"It's bigger than I'd thought." A whole lot bigger, but Saeki didn't say that.

"Father's job pays him well," Fuji said.

Saeki shrugged, because his dad was a company worker like basically everyone else, but he was always home and joking around with everyone. Fuji didn't say anything else either, though, so to fill the silence, Saeki said, "I could totally tell which house was yours from the cactuses you have all over the place."

"They like being able to see the street," Fuji said without a hint of sarcasm.

"Uh. It's a very nice street. I can see why they would..." Saeki shook his head. "No, actually, that's just weird."

Fuji laughed (okay, giggled). "You can come in, you know."

"Yeah... is he okay with it?" Saeki pointed to the cactus on Fuji's windowsill.

"He's a she and she likes when people visit," Fuji informed him.

"Right." Saeki did go in, though, and sat on the chair at Fuji's desk. Fuji's room was pretty neat, though he didn't know why he hadn't expected that.

"How are you?" Fuji asked.

"Good." Saeki eyed the cactus. "You?"

"I'm fine."

"Yeah..."

Saeki fiddled with his shirt. He hadn't realized how long it had been since they'd actually talked.

"So," Fuji asked, "What are you doing now that we're done with tennis for the year?"

"Don't know. I don't think I'm allowed to do anything until I pass my exams."

"That's unfortunate."

"Yeah. What about you?"

"I might join the photography club."

"You'd be good at it."

"I know."

Saeki fished around in his mind for something to talk about and eventually settled on "How's Yuuta?" which didn't leave any uncomfortable silences but wasn't much of an improvement in conversation. Eventually, they settled on analyzing their respective tennis seasons, which wasn't too bad. Saeki was still relieved when his mom came up to tell them that they were leaving, though.

*

He didn't know why he nodded when his mom asked him if he wanted to go with her next time, but her question had caught him off guard and that was his instinctive response. Fuji didn't even look surprised to see him when he turned up again; he just got up from his desk and grabbed a jacket. "Why don't we play a game?"

Saeki hadn't brought his racket, but Fuji had extras so they ended up in a court. It was easier to just play, even if Fuji's rackets were unfamiliar. They didn't need to talk, though Saeki got the feeling that maybe he was the only one who felt awkward.

Fuji thoroughly trounced him, though, which he hadn't expected. Before Nationals, he'd never known Fuji to win by more than a point or two unless he was angry, and Fuji wasn't angry now. In fact, he seemed to be in a spectacular mood once they finished and stretched down.

"That was a good game," he said.

"Uh huh." Saeki pulled up from the water fountain to splash him. It was cool out, but they were both too warm anyway. "Says who?"

"Well," Fuji shrugged, "I had a good game."

"I noticed." Saeki leaned back down and dunked his head into the water. When he came up, he asked, "What's up?"

"Hmm?"

"You didn't used to play like this." Saeki mentioned to the court.

"I don't want to stand still anymore." Fuji waited for him to move before leaning over the fountain. "Besides, this is more fun."

"For you, maybe." Saeki grinned.

Fuji actually seemed to think about that before answering, "Yeah. It is."

They joked together on the way back to Fuji's house, where Saeki's mom was waiting for him to get back so they could leave. She scolded him on getting wet and he could see Fuji smirking behind her.

*

The next time they saw each other wasn't the next time that his mom went to visit Auntie Yoshiko, though. It was just two weeks later, when Fuji walked casually into his room and said, "Do you really still measure how tall you are on the wall?"

"Hi to you too," Saeki said. "And yeah, some of us are still getting taller."

"Growth spurts often happen in high school." Fuji sat on Saeki's bed, which was a mess. "If you look at it, though, it looks like I stopped growing at one and a half meters."

"Wait, you're taller than that?"

Fuji mock glared at him, which was actually kind of terrifying. "Much."

"Really?" Saeki pretended to study Fuji. "You don't look it."

"I hate you," Fuji said.

"Sensitive issue for you?"

"I'm not listening to you anymore."

Saeki laughed. "Fine, we can measure you." He leaned back to grab a pencil and stood up.

Fuji lifted an eyebrow but got off of his bed and followed him out of the room. "I feel like I'm ten again."

"What does being ten even feel like?"

"Like that time you put on a dress and we went on a 'date,'" Fuji answered innocently.

"Hey!" Then, because that was actually exactly what being ten was for him, "You did it first."

"We were nine then, though."

Saeki stopped at the stairwell where they had marked how much he'd grown twice a year since he was three.

Fuji studied the markings and sighed. "Yuuta used to be so little and cute."

"You sound like a lovestruck girl."

"I think he looked best in a dress."

Saeki groaned and pushed Fuji into the wall. "Please shut up."

Fuji complied and turned around to put his back to the wall. Saeki leaned in and reached up to put the pencil flat to the top of Fuji's head and draw a small line. He could feel Fuji's breaths on his neck while he drew the line, so he finished up quickly. "You're about as tall as I was when I was twelve."

Fuji turned around to study the wall and Saeki leaned back in to write Fuji's name and the date next to the line he just made. The last line with Fuji's name was from nearly five years ago, though they used to get so excited to measure how they were growing against one another.

They were both quiet until they got back to Saeki's room.

"I'm not, you know," Fuji said when they walked in.

Saeki waited for him to explain.

"As tall as you were when you were twelve." Fuji held his thumb and index finger about a centimeter apart. "I'm a bit taller."

"Oh." Saeki considered it for a moment. "Good job. You should be proud of yourself."

Fuji smiled, and how he managed to look so _terrifying_ when he smiled was completely beyond Saeki. "I am."

Saeki thought it was safer not to answer.

*

They settled into a pattern of visiting with their moms every other week. Before the snow fell, they would go out every once in a while to play a game or two of tennis, but once winter (and exams) hit, they mostly stayed in. At one point, they had gone out to the park and gotten into a snowball fight with two five year olds (who won by a massive margin, as much as one could win a snowball fight) and built a snowman (named Yuuta, despite Saeki's protests). Auntie Yoshiko came out to find Fuji and laughed at the image they made, cowering dramatically behind poor misshapen Yuuta, with two small kids throwing snow at them, before insisting that they line up for a quick picture.

"It's as if you're our babies again," she said when they finished posing.

Fuji said that it was because he was technically only three, but that Saeki had no excuse. Saeki threw a handful of snow at him.

Auntie Yoshiko laughed again and told them to play nice.

*

After New Year's, though, entrance exams began and Saeki found himself relegated to his room to study while his mom poured over the prospective schools. When they left to visit Fuji, his mom refused to leave until he had his math book with him and she made sure he had it open on the train. He was relieved that she didn't make him study in the living room once they arrived and he got upstairs as quickly as he could.

"Where do you think you'll be going?" Fuji asked after Saeki had the door closed and barricaded.

"No idea." Saeki tested the chair he'd pushed into the doorknob. "My mom's picking."

"I doubt she would force her way in," Fuji commented.

"Shut up."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Almost everyone's going to—actually, you wouldn't know it, it's this small high school about ten minutes away by bus. I thought it'd be kind of cool to, you know, apply to Rikkai or something too."

"Yeah." Fuji leaned back again. "Mother wants me to transfer to Rikkai."

"Seriously? Why?" Saeki frowned. "Why aren't you studying, then?"

Fuji rolled his eyes and didn't bother answer the last question. "She thinks I would do better on their team, since Tezuka's leaving."

"Oh."

"You should come to Seishun."

"So you're not going to Rikkai?"

Fuji shrugged. "I would rather not. I think Mother would be happier with Seishun if you were there too."

Saeki rolled his eyes. "That the only reason you want me to go there?"

"I think it would be fun."

"Yeah, that would be one word for it. I think 'crazy' would be better."

"Fun." Fuji grinned at him. "Besides, we have fun. Remember when we used to play pirates?"

"You used to sprinkle gold glitter on Yuuta and tell him to play the treasure." Saeki had to grin back. "Tons of fun."

Fuji let out a _hmph_. "I thought it was a lot of fun. I seem to remember you having a lot of fun as well."

"Did not."

"You _always_ had the pirate swords out when we came over."

"Did not!"

"For all of summer break between fourth and fifth grade. Mother was always so angry that we kept playing that game and I always blamed it on you."

"Thanks, thanks I appreciate it. Is that why she totally hated me back then?"

"I think she just didn't approve of your hair."

"Oh," Saeki said. "Okay. That makes total sense."

Fuji just kept grinning at him.

*

As exams got closer, though, his mom got crazier and crazier (and maybe he was a little stressed too) and it seemed like taking a few hours off from studying to visit Fuji was excessive. He ended up spending the entire time on just one page of his book, partly because physics made no sense to him and partly because he couldn't concentrate.

Fuji didn't mention that he'd missed Saeki two weeks later when he came over. They just talked and tossed the mini-basketball into the toy hoop Saeki had over his closet door, but Saeki's eyes kept wandering to his history book.

When Auntie Yoshiko called for Fuji to come downstairs to leave, he had looked at Saeki and said, "Maybe we should just put off visiting until exams are over."

"Yeah," Saeki said, not really thinking about it.

He didn't go with his mom the next time and, a month later, Fuji didn't show up either. It was weird, not seeing Fuji for so long even though he knew they'd gone longer, but then the crush of entrance exams began and he didn't think of that anymore.

The exams weren't as bad as he thought they would be, but he'd thought they would crush his soul to a million pieces and then toss him into a fiery hell or something, so that wasn't saying much. They were mostly doable, though and that was a pleasant surprise. There were just so many of them and, by the end of it all, he felt numb to the whole process.

There was one exam left when his mom asked if he wanted to go with her to Fuji's and he agreed almost immediately. She asked him how the exams went—again—on the train ride there and, somehow, it annoyed him a lot less this time. He told her that they were okay, he'd probably go where everyone else was going (she pursed her lips, but didn't tell him otherwise—yet), but maybe he'd get in somewhere else.

Fuji was in the kitchen when they arrived, and he actually smiled, not fake-smiled, when he saw Saeki. Auntie Yoshiko asked him how he did on exams, Saeki repeated what he'd told his mom, and, after she finished interrogating him about what the schools were all like, made his way to sit next to Fuji.

"Welcome back," Fuji said and offered him a cookie.

"Thanks."

"You won't be coming to Seishun, then?"

Saeki stopped mid-bite to stare at him. He already had the cookie in his mouth, though, so he chewed furiously to swallow before he asked, "You were serious?"

"Should I not have been?"

"No, I just thought you were kidding."

"I don't joke." Fuji even managed to look totally serious when he said it, too.

"You're so freaking weird."

"I guess you'll just have to visit me with your mom, then."

"Yeah, same to you."

"Mm..."

Saeki took another (small) bite of his cookie and examined Fuji. Fuji didn't even bother giving him a strange look. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You're being weird."

 _That_ got him a look.

"Weirder than usual," Saeki corrected.

That did too.

"Different weird than usual?" Saeki tried again.

Fuji still gave him a funny look, but he also shrugged. "It's nothing."

Saeki stuffed the rest of his cookie in his mouth to keep from asking, then said, with his mouth nearly full, "Sure."

Fuji handed him a napkin and pointed to the crumbs that had dropped out of his mouth. Saeki obediently wiped it up. Fuji just sat there, watching him wipe and chew. He didn't touch his own half eaten cookie. Saeki was reaching for another one when Fuji finally said, "Taka-san isn't joining the team next year."

"Yeah, I heard," Saeki began to say, but Fuji kept going.

"Oishi's father got a job in China so he's moving and Eiji says he won't join the team without Oishi."

"Oh."

"That's all." Fuji picked up his cookie and looked at it like he was considering whether or not it was worth the effort of biting into. (Saeki was moderately amazed at how forlorn he managed to look while holding a cookie—and Auntie Yoshiko's cookies were delicious.)

Saeki didn't know what to say, though, so he just nibbled at his own cookie. When it was finished, Fuji still hadn't touched his yet. Saeki hesitated for a second before putting his hand on Fuji's shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey."

"We'll always be your friends, even if we're not on your team."

"Yeah."

"Look at me."

Fuji sighed, but he did.

"I'll always be here. I promise." Saeki thought for a moment and revised, "I'll always be here except for a few weeks in three years when I'm not allowed to leave my room again."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Fuji looked back at his cookie, which must have been really fascinating. "Thanks."

"No problem."

They didn't talk much that day, but it was okay. It was comfortable, just sitting with Fuji, eating more empty calories than they were allowed through sports seasons.

He failed his last entrance exam spectacularly, but it was okay. No one would have wanted him to go there anyway.

*

He received a red truck for his birthday when he turned three and he had played with it every day for four years. When he was seven, his best friend in the whole world had given him a tennis racket in an obvious attempt to get Saeki to play with him. He had refused, much to Fuji's chagrin, for a whole two months.

He threw the old red truck out when he was eleven and he'd outgrown the children's racket at nine.

They weren't the important things anyway.  



End file.
